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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29936454">Persona 5: Project Royal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheManBehindtheSeesaw/pseuds/TheManBehindtheSeesaw'>TheManBehindtheSeesaw</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Project Persona [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5, Persona Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Original Character(s), Persona 3 Spoilers, Persona 4 Spoilers, Persona 5 Spoilers, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:00:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,123</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29936454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheManBehindtheSeesaw/pseuds/TheManBehindtheSeesaw</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A retelling of Persona 5: Royal but something seems off. Were there always more than 10 members of the Phantom Thieves?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro/Okumura Haru, Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kitagawa Yusuke/Sakura Futaba, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Project Persona [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207868</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. From the Beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The tall and attractive prosecutor Sae Niijima looked down the hall. Sae had long gray hair, wearing a dark gray business suit and black jeans. The long hallway was littered with guards. As she walked down the hallway, she was cordially welcomed by each of the guards. Once she arrived at the end of the hallway, she spoke with a high-ranking guard, “I need to see the prisoner.”</p><p>“Y-yes ma’am,” the guard replied, walking over to the door. The door guarding the prisoner was high security, with the door having a keypad and an eye scanner. The guard swiftly put in the code, blocking peering eyes with a hand as he typed. He then put his eye onto the eye scanner, once the door confirmed the guard’s identity, it slowly decompressed until it fully opened.</p><p>Sae walked into the room, finding the prisoner on the ground. The teen had black frizzy hair and he wore a black blazer with an emblem printed onto it, with a white turtleneck underneath the blazer and long checkered trousers. On the ground next to him was a pair of black cracked glasses. The prisoner had a steady flow of blood flowing down his face.</p><p>She motioned for the guards to get the beaten prisoner into his seat. The guards begrudgingly obliged, roughly pulling the teenager off the cold hard floor and onto the chair, strapping him in with a tight rope to prevent him from making a valiant escape.</p><p>Sae sat herself on the opposite end of the table, “that will be enough.”</p><p>The guards looked at each other, “I’m sorry but we were told to stay here in case-” but the guard was cut off by the infamous Niijima glare.</p><p>“I said that will be enough,” Sae told the guards in the same tone, but with a hint of malice.</p><p>“We’ll be going!” the guards shot up and left their stations to the menacing prosecutor.</p><p>Sae pulled out a large binder, flipping to the first page. She was actually quite intrigued and surprised by the true identity of “the Joker”.</p><p>Sae sighed, “let’s start from the beginning, shall we,” she smiled at the prisoner, “Ren?”</p><p> </p><p>Ren ran away from home. It wasn’t his first time, and it wouldn’t be his last. He just needed some breathing room, away from his father. His father and he haven’t had the best relationship, even before his mother passed due to a car accident. All he could really say about his father is that he tried.</p><p>As he ran further and further away from home, he found himself near the cheap motel that druggies would frequent. He couldn’t help but stare when he saw a man dragging a woman towards his car.</p><p>“Get in the car!” he yelled, one hand still holding a bottle that most likely contained alcohol.</p><p>“Stop it,” the woman pleaded.</p><p>“Just do what I say!” </p><p>A part of him told him to leave the man to his business, but that wasn’t what he acted on.</p><p>“What are you doing!?” the man yelped as Ren pushed him away from the woman. The drunk man fell backward, hitting his head on the curb.</p><p>“That’s what you deserve, you drunk pervert,” Ren muttered to himself as he turned to the woman, “are you okay?”</p><p>“Turn around!” the fallen man commanded, “you damn brat! I’ll sue!”</p><p>“Sue me for what?” Ren questioned, “you were harassing this lady.” Two police officers approached them. The man got up from the ground and whispered something to the woman, inaudible to Ren’s ears.</p><p>“What seems to be the problem?” one of the police officers questioned the lady.</p><p>The woman hesitated, “this… this kid walked up to us and assaulted him,” she pointed towards the drunk man, who was grinning contently.</p><p>“Th-that’s not what happened!” Ren shouted. “He was harassing her, that’s why I pushed him.”</p><p>“So you admit to assaulting him,” the police officer took out a pair of handcuffs, “young man, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you.”</p><p>Ren was handcuffed by the officer, completely baffled at the situation. “How could this happen?” he questioned himself. “How…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading the prologue. I hope it was enjoyable and more chapters will come in the following weeks.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Greetings Trickster</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter has been updated combining it with chapter 3. So if you read this before 3/24/21, you may need to reread it, sorry.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ren sat on the subway, waiting for his next stop, Yogen-Jaya station, as he looked back on the torturous week he had endured. The long court trial was tedious and rigged. The guy he pushed didn’t even bother to show up. No one wanted to associate with him, going so far to avoid him as he said his goodbyes. “You damn brat! I’ll sue!”, replayed in his mind over and over, taunting him over the choice he made. Everyone had abandoned him; his friends, his family, and most of all, his father.</p><p>Now, he was all alone. He only knew his new guardian’s name, ‘Sojiro Sakura’. His father wrote down the address of Sojiro’s home. He brought with him a bag, with the rest of his belongings being sent in a large cardboard box. </p><p>He looked across from him, two high school girls around his age were gossiping and he couldn’t help but listen.</p><p>“Did you hear about the mental shutdowns?” one of the girls asked. Her friend shuttered, “yeah I did. It’s scary, how can someone just go crazy out of nowhere.” Ren rolled his eyes, mental shutdowns sounded like a bunch of bullshit to him. But there were those weird rumors back at his old school. He shook his head, rumors were just rumors. </p><p>He focused on the television in the subway that usually displayed the news. “Kanamin returns from her trip to…” and Ren tuned it out. He didn’t care for idols and celebrities, especially when it was the only thing people talked about. If only he had brought his headphones too.</p><p>Once the subway finally reached its destination, Ren got off the train with the crowd of people also exiting the subway. He hated crowds, his hometown never had crowds, and when it did it was because ‘Risette came back to town’ or ‘let's talk about the serial killings of ‘11’. </p><p>As he walked with the mass of people, he took out his phone to plug in Sojiro’s address, but his navigation app had disappeared; instead being replaced by a weird red icon with an eye. Ren swiftly deleted it, “weird…” he thought to himself, looking back up from his phone to find the crowd of people had stopped moving. Actually, everything stopped moving. It was like they were frozen in time. Beyond the cluster of people was an ominous figure with wings. It floated over the ground but it didn’t float with its wings. Its feet were firmly planted in the air and its wings stood straight. When Ren tried to get a better look at the figure, the blue flames that surrounded the figure blinded him; and just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.</p><p>“Keep it moving!” someone yelled, pushing Ren from behind. Ren stumbled a bit before finding his footing and following the large crowd.</p><p> </p><p>“Café Leblanc?” Ren questioned as he looked at the sign. The address to his caretaker’s home instead led him to a cafe in the backstreets of Yogen-Jaya.</p><p>“I must have taken a wrong turn,” he told himself, ready to retrace his steps when a middle-aged man walked out of Leblanc. The man had slicked-back black hair, with a beard and glasses. His outfit was an unusual pink dress-shirt with a white-striped black apron over it and casual khakis.</p><p>He looked at Ren, “you Ren?” Ren simply nodded, “c’mon in then.” Ren followed Sojiro into Leblanc. </p><p>Inside the cafe was a set of booths for Leblanc’s patrons if it had any. The interior design felt very retro 60’s but not as colorful. Stained glass light hung above each booth. There was also a countertop for those who preferred high stools or sitting alone. Behind the counter was a variety of jars containing coffee beans.</p><p>Sojiro walked past all of it, past the bathroom, and up a set of stairs. Ren followed him, finding himself in the attic.</p><p>“Your father informed me of your situation,” Sojiro explained. “You should’ve known better and minded your own business.”</p><p>Ren let out a long sigh, Sojiro was going to be taking care of him for the next year, he was thankful to him, but he knew he should’ve minded his own business. At least a part of him did.</p><p>“Anyways, this is your room.”</p><p>Ren looked around the stuffy attic, realizing his current situation. Firstly, the bed was covered in fresh sheets, the only fresh thing in the room. The shelf next to the bed was covered in disorderly books, with a stack of books on the ground directly in front of it. Next was the large pile of junks, a bike, a flowerpot with a somehow alive flower, gasoline, old video game consoles.</p><p>“Did this guy even play video games?” Ren wondered, picking up one of the cartridges, “maybe he has a nephew,” he mused.</p><p>Checking the rest of his new room, there was a desk covered in books with a clear sheet draped over it. Lastly, the couch was covered in old VHS tapes and a broken television.</p><p>“Maybe if I wait ‘till 12,” Ren muttered, chuckling to himself. It was a stupid idea. It was also a fun game he and his friends participated in back home, but alas, another stupid idea.</p><p>Lastly, next to the couch was a table with his box of belongings on top of it. On top of all the rearranging he’d have to do, everything was dusty, not to mention the cobwebs.</p><p>Sojiro put a hand on Ren’s shoulder, “good luck,” before leaving back downstairs to presumably serve customers. Ren had work to do, and a lot of it.</p><p> </p><p>Sojiro walked back upstairs after he closed up shop. He had planned to tell Ren about the trip to school they’d need to take tomorrow for a brief orientation with the principal, but he found Ren on his bed knocked out. Ren had actually cleaned the room fully, not leaving a trace of the disorganized mess the attic had been hours earlier.</p><p>Sojiro knew that Ren wouldn’t be too happy if he awoke right now, so he left the boy alone. He just needed to remind himself to explain the school orientation to Ren tomorrow over breakfast.</p><p>Ren wasn’t sleeping though, he was actually in a place between realities. He awoke after falling asleep in the attic. He had stayed in one before the trial so he recognized the uncomfortable bed and musty smell. He got up from the bed and found himself in a cramped prison cell, as he thought. He walked up to the bars of the cell and looked forward, finding a peculiar man with a long nose in a business suit, sitting behind a wooden table. The long nose wasn’t the captivating part about the man, it was his abnormally large eyes that stared directly into his soul.</p><p>“Greetings trickster.” The man had called him a trickster. He looked around for more context and found a short girl next to the man. She had long platinum hair with a blue headband with butterfly ornaments. She wore a blue dress and held a clipboard.</p><p>The girl spoke this time, “welcome to the Velvet Room.”</p><p>“The Velvet Room?” Ren questioned. The room was neither purple nor a room. It was a sphere of prison cells, with the man and his desk in the middle.</p><p>“It is a space between dream and reality,” the girl spoke softly.</p><p>“It is a room that only those who are bound by a contract may enter,” Igor explained. “I am Igor,” he pointed towards the girl, “this is my assistant Lavenza.”</p><p>“Greetings,” Lavenza curtsied. “I will guide you through your rehabilitation.”</p><p>“My rehabilitation?” Ren questioned. The Velvet Room talk was starting to confuse him.</p><p>Igor spoke up, “I have brought you here to speak about important matters.”</p><p>“Important matters?” Ren was completely and utterly lost.</p><p>“I am surprised,” Lavenza looked around the room, intrigued. “The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart.”</p><p>“You truly are a prisoner of fate,” Igor chuckled, “in the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you. You must be rehabilitated, rehabilitated towards freedom…”</p><p>“Until we meet again, trickster.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ren awoke to the smell of coffee. It shouldn’t have been surprising, his room was above a cafe after all. It almost made him forget about the dream he had last night… almost. He got up from his cozy bed and walked down stairs to find the place completely empty apart from Sojiro cooking behind the counter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Glad to see you up,” Sojiro greeted. Ren could only wave and smile. It was too early for him, way too early. “You like your coffee bitter or sweet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bitter,” Ren answered, he couldn’t help it, the bitterness kept him up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sojiro chuckled, handing Ren a plate of his curry. “Eat it, I can’t bring you to school without feeding you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren stopped, “school?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I must’ve forgotten,” he muttered, “yes, you have orientation today with principal Kobayakawa.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Orientation… sounds boring,” Ren sighed. He took a bite of the curry, tasting the amazing complexity of the curry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren’s eyes lit up as he took a second bite. “This is delicious!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sojiro gave a content smile, “it’s the Leblanc special. Maybe I can teach you one day…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren finished eating, going to the sink to wash the plate and spoon before following Sojiro outside. Sojiro owned a small compacted yellow car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sojiro sighed, “I usually don’t let guys sit in the front.” Ren laughed as he got into the passenger’s seat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The trip to Shujin Academy was quick, due to the school only being in Aoyama-Itchome. The school was large, expected of an academy. His old highschool was still exceptionally big for the town he grew up in. In the entrance to the academy was a gate, semi-closed because of the orientation occurring on a Sunday. He entered the academy, it was empty as expected of a Sunday. He walked with Sojiro up to the third floor where they entered the principal’s office.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah Sojiro!” the principal greeted. He was a bald overweight man in a yellow suit. He was sitting at his desk with his arms crossed. “That means you must be Ren Amamiya, correct?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes sir,” Ren responded. The principal spoke up, “as you know we have graciously taken you in to Shujin Academy to try and help rehabilitate you. We have greeted you with hospitality, so make sure not to get into any trouble or we will be expelled immediately,” before adding, “your criminal record will halt you from going to any other schools so this is your final chance for any intellectual growth.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I’m a publicity stunt,” Ren sighed. He kinda expected that his acceptance to Shujin wasn’t for the best means. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kobayakawa pointed to the person next to him, “this is your homeroom teacher, Ms. Kawakami.” Kawakami wore a long-sleeve yellow shirt and a blue denim skirt. Her hair was dark brown and unkempt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tomorrow, I’ll be waiting for you in the faculty office,” Kawakami explained, “so don’t be late.” Kobayakawa next pointed to the diligent-looking student next to Kawakami, “this is your student council president, Makoto Niijima.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Makoto smiled at Ren, “it’s nice to make your acquaintance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“how much longer is this going to take?” Sojiro complained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Actually, we’re done here,” Kobayakawa explained. “Thank you for your time Sojiro.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sojiro and Ren left the compound, getting back into his yellow convertible, and drove back to the cafe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the crowded subway was a teenager, a teenager named Goro Akechi. He had brown hair, wearing a tan coat and black pants. He was running, with a copious of books in his hands and a pancake being held in his mouth. He was running because he was late for his curfew, he just needed some more reading material for his class.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he boarded the subway train, he luckily found a seat. He put his books in his lap as he began to eat the pancake he was holding by the mouth, not noticing the stares he was receiving. What he did notice however was the speeding of the train. What once was a subtle increase of speed was growing, dangerously. Goro got up from his seat, attempting to push past the crowd surrounding him but the train’s shaking knocked him and countless others backwards and to the ground, Goro unluckily hitting the back of his head on a metal pole. His eyes began to flicker as the subway continued to speed up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the train’s operating room, the operator stood completely still, with a hand holding down the lever. His eyes were white and soulless, his mouth was wide open. A black goo dripped down his face and onto the floor, creating a puddle of the substance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, the train rammed into another train, causing the two trains to topple over in an agonizing halt, all of the passengers going along with it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading, any feedback is welcomed and appreciated. Tune in every Monday for a new chapter. Hopefully, school doesn't fuck up the schedule.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Arsène!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for being gone for a while. The Monday schedule has been abolished, I've decided to freestyle my updates. Hopefully this doesn't make this series another Glitch in Jabberwock but hopefully I have the will to proceed without a schedule.</p><p>If you've read my other series, Project Golden, that will go on a semi-hiatus until Project Royal is finished or close to finished. This may not stay forever; but I wanted to go backwards.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ren got off the subway train he took from Yogen-Jaya and walked onto the streets of Aoyama-Itchome, the area full of office buildings and exclusive stores. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two students in Shujin uniform walked by him, chatting as they walked. “Did you hear about the train incident?” one asked. “Yeah,” the other responded, “how could the conductor not remember anything?” A raindrop fell onto Ren’s hair. When he looked up, it began to rain, and it rained hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren ran to the nearest shelter, the front of a jewelry store. Once he was beneath the storefront, he began to wipe his damp hair with a towel from his bag. Ren wasn’t the only person with the idea; another student took shelter next to him. She had long platinum-blonde hair with pigtails, wearing the Shujin uniform. After drying off, she turned to Ren and smiled. Ren realized he was staring at her and awkwardly smiled back. They stood in silence for a minute before a car pulled up to the curb. The window rolled down and Kamoshida yelled, “hey Takamaki! Do you need a ride?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ann nodded, before hesitantly walking to the car; something Ren had noticed. Kamoshida turned to Ren, “do you need a ride?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren shook his head, “I’ll walk.” Kamoshida shrugged, rolling up his window and driving off. Ren grabbed his phone from his pocket and looked at the time. “Damn it!” Ren began to speed walk to the school, barely making it to school on time. Remembering Kawakami was waiting for him in the faculty office, he made his way there; although he didn’t know where it was. He had tried to ask for directions from multiple students but all of them ignored him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Assholes…” Ren muttered as he finally found the office after getting lost multiple times. He walked into the office; the room had desks pushed together in the middle of the room with papers piled up on top of it. Kawakami was sitting at the table, staring at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You're 5 minutes late,” Kawakami explained before muttering, “they're going to think it’s a free period…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I”m sorry Ms. Kawakami,” Ren apologized, “but I got lost on my way to the office.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you ask for help?” Kawakami raised an eye at the new transfer student.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everyone ignored me,” Ren explained. Kawakami sighed, “just follow me. I’ll introduce you to your class.” Kawakami left the faculty office, leading Ren down the hall. After following Kawakami up the stairs, they walked into class 2-D, his new homeroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The classroom was a moderate size, with clean desks for each of the students. Ren stood in front of the class with Kawakami. His teacher pointed towards Ren, “this is the new transfer student, Ren Amamiya.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice to meet you,” Ren bowed towards his new class. His classmates began to whisper amongst themselves but he overheard one thing, “isn’t that the new transfer student with the criminal record?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren’s heart skipped the beat, how did they know about his criminal record; only the faculty knew about this. He looked over to Kawakami, whose face was as shocked as his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kawakami sighed, she didn’t want to deal with this. “Your seat is behind Takamaki, Amamiya.” Ren followed Kawakami’s gaze to the blonde girl he had taken shelter with from the pouring rain. He walked past his gossiping classmates and to his seat behind Ann.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lies,” Ann murmured, she was about done with the rumor mill bashing every new student that came to this academy. About everyone she knew had endured the rumor mill in some way; herself included, but this was clearly the worst of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren sat back and listened to the gossiping classmates surrounding him. “Did you see that, those two know each other!” “Ann’s cheating on Kamoshida? What a slut, you think I got a chance with her,” and Ren tuned out. This may be the hardest year of his life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was lunch time and Ren was already having a shitty day. Worse than that, he was hungry. He quickly left the classroom and entered the crowded cafeteria to eat the lunch he packed: a small container of curry courtesy of his caretaker and a moderate size bag of animal crackers he picked up from the supermarket on the way to school. He avoided the gossiping students and stared as he found an empty table. He quickly took his seat and began unpacking his curry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yo transfer!” Ren looked up to see a group of students in red jackets with white-stripes on the sleeves walk up to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I help you?” Ren asked them. He was pretty sure this wasn’t going to end well. One of the students grabbed the container of curry and tossed it to the ground. Ren sighed, the best course of action was to sit back down and ignore them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took a seat and took out his bag of animal crackers, ignoring the taunting jocks. He opened the bag and was about to take a cracker out but one of the students hit the bag out of his hand. He tried to mentally calm himself down, but he couldn’t justify forgiving them. He got up from his seat and found the guy that punched his animal crackers and punched him in the face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After his brawl in the cafeteria, he found himself in the detention room while his assailants got a pat in the back. He looked around, the detention room looked exactly like his homeroom, but empty. Well empty except for the person next to him. He was a blonde guy wearing the Shujin uniform but his jacket was open with a yellow shirt underneath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blonde approached Ren, “I’ve never seen you before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want?” Ren questioned the blonde.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Ryuji, just wanted to introduce myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh… um, hello,” Ren smiled sheepishly, no one had even given him a welcome since he entered the academy, “I’m Ren.” Ryuji stared at his bruises, “wha’ happened to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren explained his situation to Ryuji. “Y’know, that sounds like the volleyball team; red jacket and all.” Ryuji sighed, “their Kamoshida’s lap dogs. That piece of shit orders them to do things for him; like he’s the king of Shujin and their his ignorant knights.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“King of the castle,” Ren thought about it, “he was a bit… off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Navigating…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was that?” Ryuji asked. Ren looked down, “I think that was my phone.” he took out his phone to find that his phone screen was completely black except for the red icon with the black eye. “I thought I deleted this.” he fidgeted with his phone to try and get off of the app but his efforts were fruitless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Navigation complete.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What the hell is wrong with this thing. Do I need to fix it or something?</span>
  </em>
  <span> “Dude…” Ryuji gasped. Ren looked up from his phone and looked around. He wasn’t in the detention room anymore. The walls were made of stone and bricks. The wooden floor was now gravel. He took off his glasses to look around once more and it was still the same. After putting his glasses back on his face, he looked to the bars that were keeping them inside the cell. Two heavily armored guards looked into the cell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are we?” Ryuji questioned the guards, walking up to the cell bars before being promptly pushed backwards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was that for?” Ren was beyond confused. First the dreams, then the weird figure and the app, now this. Could his day get any weirder. Then it did, the guards made way for Kamoshida. But this wasn’t the usual Kamoshida, he had glowing bright yellow eyes. His appearance changed as well, he wore a large heart-patterned cape and a pink speedo, leaving his hairy legs visible, with a crown on his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kamoshida?” Ryuji was as confused as Ren was. Kamoshida began to laugh, “I expected this from Sakamoto but Amamiya too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you effin’ waiting for?” Ryuji questioned the teacher, “let us out already.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Being rebellious again? You remember what happened last time,” Kamoshida smirked. “Execute them!” The guards unlocked the cell door and walked into the room. One of the guards grabbed Ren and pinned him to the wall. The other pinned Ryuji to the opposite wall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kill Sakamoto first!” Kamoshida commanded, “we can save Amamiya for last.” The guard obliged with Kamoshida’s request, steadying his sword to Ryuji’s throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you really going to just watch him die?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren looked around confused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was your previous action a mistake then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren looked at Ryuji, remembering the woman he had saved days ago. </span>
  <em>
    <span>No it wasn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren grabbed his head as the pain settled in. The voice continued, “I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call my name and I shall lend you my strength.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A mask materialized on his face. Ren grabbed it and pulled it off, feeling as if he was peeling off his own face. “Arsène!” he yelled as blood dripped from his face. A strong gust of wind blew throughout the cell, a humanoid man appearing behind Ren, wearing a red suit and a top hat. Ren looked at Kamoshida smugly, “let’s go!”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading! This chapter has been a long-time coming. No schedule (at least for now) so hopefully stay tuned for a new chapter in the coming weeks. I'm aiming for Wednesday and Friday this week but it depends on how bad or good this week is.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Great Prison Escape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Like promised, a new Project Royal chapter has dropped on a Wednesday and I aiming for Friday for the next chapter. If this works out, maybe a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule would work well for a period of time before I have to readjust.</p><p>I've also wanted to add that my other fic Project Golden will continue (not on hiatus anymore) but will have a slower upload schedule than Project Royal until I am done with Royal or shift focuses. I originally wanted to work on both at the same time but it got hard so I instead want to focus on one while the other is slowly updated in the background.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“What the hell?” Ryuji questioned. Ren’s Shujin uniform was replaced by a new uniform consisting of a long black tail-coat and a blackish gray vest over long jeans. His glasses disappeared in favor of a white mask with black outlines around the eyes. He had red gloves on now, with one holding a knife that materialized with the outfit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kamoshida stared at Ren, astonished. He looked back at his guards, “what are you two waiting for? Get him!” The guards approached Ren before dissolving into black puddles of goo. From the goo, two monsters ascended. One was a monster with a pumpkin for its head. It had a witch’s hat and a blue robe, holding an old-fashioned lantern. The other monster was a reddish-brown haired fairy with long wings and a blue dress. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Arsène, eiha!” Ren commanded as a dark orb shot into the fairy, causing it to disintegrate. Ren then charged into the pumpkin, stabbing it with his knife. After the guards were dispatched, Ryuji charged into Kamoshida, knocking him over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s what you get,” Ryuji yelled at the unconscious Kamoshida, grabbing the keys from his person and locking him in the cell. “What now?” he looked at Ren.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How am I supposed to know?” Ren questioned. Ryuji stared at him, “you knew what you were doing in there,” he pointed towards the cell. Ren sighed, looking around. The smoothed stone was a nice upgrade from the gravel, but the concrete at the academy was more preferable. There were more cells across a river with a bridge connecting the two sides.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Follow me,” Ren told the blonde. They walked across the bridge, turning the corner and finding themselves in another deadend. After running around the prison for a good twenty minutes, they found nothing but more deadends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren sighed, “another dead end.” “Damn it!” Ryuji punched the brick wall, immediately regretting it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t hurt yourself blondie,” a voice warned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who said that?” Ryuji questioned. Ren scanned his surrounding area, finding no one around. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I said it!” the voice yelled, “down here!” Ren looked towards the nearest cell and looked down. There he found a monster cat. It had black and white fur with a black mask and a yellow scarf around its neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” Ryuji questioned, pointing at the cat. “A monster cat,” Ren responded, “obviously.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am not a monster cat!” The cat yelled annoyed, “I’m an honest to god human, and my name is Morgana.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How can you talk?” Ryuji asked, confused. Ren sighed, “how are you confused about a talking cat with everything we’ve seen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a human!” Morgana groaned, “just let me out and I’ll help you two escape.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How can we trust you?” Ryuji was suspicious of Morgana. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to escape or not?” Morgana questioned, “I promise I will safely help you escape to the real world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Real world?” Ren was the confused one now, “are we in a fake world?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have time!” Morgana explained, “I’ll tell you everything after we escape.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give us a sec,” Ryuji told Morgana before wrapping a hand around Ren and facing their backs to the cell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s just move and get outta here,” Ryuji whispered as quietly as he could. “But Morgana could help us escape,” Ren argued, “we’ve been lost in this prison for forever. Plus, he can tell us more about this world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine…” Ryuji sighed, turning around. He took out the keys he stole and opened the lock on Morgana’s cell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m free!” Morgana stretched before walking out of the cell. “Okay, now follow me and I’ll get you out of here safely.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren and Ryuji did as they were told and followed Morgana to a creepy Kamoshida statue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Another dead end…” Ryuji sighed in defeat. “Not really,” Morgana smirked, turning to Ren. “You look more intelligent my frizzy-haired friend, mind pulling down Kamoshida’s jaw?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren stared at the Kamoshida statue hesitantly before pulling the jaw down. The sound of gears moving could be heard as a bridge was lowered from above and placed in position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C’mon blondie!” Morgana yelled as the three of them walked over the bridge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hold it right there!” Ren turned around to find a group of guards chasing them. “The prisoners are escaping!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Run!” Morgana yelled as they ran across the path before being blocked by another group of guards. “We’re trapped!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do the thing!” Ryuji told Ren. “What thing?” Morgana questioned. “Just watch.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren strided up to the guards, grabbing his mask and pulling it off, “persona!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll join too,” Morgana announced, “Zorro!” Behind Morgana came a large persona. He had a long sword and a cape, with a Z emblem on his belt. Morgana pulled out a sword somehow and began to fight alongside Ren and Arsène. After they dealt with the guards, they walked up a flight of stairs, finding themselves next to a bunch more cells. But these cells were filled with people.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” Ryuji questioned, “have others been imprisoned too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren looked at one of them, he seemed familiar. Then it clicked, “wait a minute. This is the guy from lunch that threw my food.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care,” Ryuji exclaimed, “I’m breaking them out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, no!” Morgana yelled, “they're not real. It’s really hard to explain, I’ll explain everything once we escape.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren and Ryuji hesitantly followed Morgana out of the dungeon and into a castle. It was a very large room, with two long stairways up to another floor with a large portrait of Kamoshida. The room was lined with carpet, with a chandelier above them. There were two hallways to the left and right of them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Their!” Morgana pointed towards a large door. After walking through the door, they found themselves outside of the castle. “We escaped!” Ryuji cheered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now how do we leave this fake world?” Ren asked. Morgana shrugged, “how’d you guys end up here in the first place.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren took out his phone, “I think this had something to do with it.” Ren handed the phone to Morgana, who began to analyze it. He pointed to the red app, “this is a navigation app. You can tell from the logo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren took his phone back, “really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Morgana was about to start explaining when they heard Kamoshida scream, “LOOK EVERYWHERE!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s probably not safe to be here,” Morgana told Ren and Ryuji. “When it comes time, I’ll explain everything to you, just not yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, but you better have a good explanation,” Ryuji grumbled. Ren fumbled with the app until it said, “navigating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They found themselves on the steps of Shujin, with Kawakami standing at the top of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello Amamiya, Sakamoto,” Kawakamki greeted them harshly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kawakami brought them back to the detention room. “What were you two thinking?” Kawakami questioned. “First you get into detention, then you skip detention too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry Ms. Kawakami,” Ren apologized. He wanted to tell her the truth, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>sorry Ms. Kawakami, me and Ryuji got sucked into another world and almost got killed by Kamoshida before I ripped my face off and escaped with the help of a monster cat</span>
  </em>
  <span> sounds a bit too far-fetched.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were in a castle,” Ryuji explained, causing Ren to mentally facepalm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Castle?” a voice from behind them questioned. Ren turned around to find Kamoshida. “That sounds a bit far-fetched Sakamoto, even for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Ryuji could blurt anything out, Ren covered his mouth. “After I wasn’t able to eat lunch, I got hungry so we went to Big Bang Burger.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Makes more since,” Kawakami scoffed, “I can’t believe you did that! If something like this happens again, I’m calling your caretaker,” she looked over at Ryuji, “and I will definitely also notify your mom.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren sighed, “yes, Ms. Kawakami.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kawakami, looking content, let them leave. Ren let out a breath of fresh air when they got out of the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was that for?” Ryuji questioned. “He tried to kill us!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But he doesn’t remember anything from the dungeon. I don’t know why yet but we can’t blow our cover.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, but we’re meeting tomorrow during lunch to talk about what happened today.” Ryuji explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s all good with me,” Ren responded. “Okay goodbye!” Ryuji waved before leaving the campus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren went home to the cafe and went straight to sleep. He had a feeling that his dreams had something to do with what has been happening recently. Once he fell asleep, he woke up in the other world, the Velvet Room as they called it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Welcome back trickster,” Lavenza smiled at the delinquent. “You have made great progress.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have indeed,” Igor chuckled. “I see you made good work of my meta-navigator.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren sighed, “of course you gave it to me.” Ren decided to keep quiet so he could soak in all of the information Igor and Lavenza could give him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Igor continued, “not only that but you summoned your persona and made a friend that also has a persona.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Morgana,” Lavenza smiled again, “he will aid you in battle most well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Continue on this path and your rehabilitation will be complete.” Igor chuckled contently, “until we meet again trickster.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A cool detail is that all of my chapters's titles (including the one's from Project Golden) except for this one has been taken directly from the chapter itself. I've always been bad with chapter titles (just look at Glitch in Jabberwock), so unless a better title comes to me before I post a new one, chapter titles will come from within the chapter itself.</p><p>One last thing, no one is perfect, especially me so any feedback is appreciated. If not feedback, tell me how you feel about the mainline Persona games. I haven't played 1 or 2 but have stared 3 and have beaten 4 and 5. 4 is my personal favorite but I cherish 5 for introducing me to the franchise (more so thanks to Smash Ultimate but 5 was the first actual Persona game I played).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Cat's Out of the Bag</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you noticed, there are no chapter summaries because I am pretty shit at writing those. If chapter summaries are something you'd like, I can whip it up in a few days.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ren yawned, his Velvet Room experience gave him a bit of information. Igor had given him the meta-navigator, but for what purpose. Was it to continue his rehabilitation? To fight the coming ruin? Ren needed to stop thinking about the future and focus on what was in front of him: a small black cat with white paws and a yellow collar stood at his open window. It was a familiar color scheme, leading Ren to recognize the cat. “Morgana?”</p><p>“Took you long enough,” Morgana complained, grooming himself, “how long do you sleep anyways?”</p><p>Ren looked at the talking cat, astonished. “Oh don’t give me that crap!” Morgana chastised, quite annoyed at his frizzy-haired friend, “you’ve seen weirder. You literally saw shadows!”</p><p>“I guess…” Ren rubbed the back of his head, “but a talking cat? What’s next, a talking dog?”</p><p>“There better not be one,” Morgana groaned. He looked around, “your room isn’t looking too good.”</p><p>Ren rolled his eyes, “I know, but don’t say that in front of me.”</p><p>“So where’s Ryuji?” Morgana asked, trying to change the subject.</p><p>“I don’t see him ‘till I get to school,” Ren explained, “it’s something us humans do.”</p><p>“I know what a school is!” Morgana yelled.</p><p>“Speaking of school,” Ren sat Morgana on the bed, “I have to start going if I’m going to make it on time, make yourself comfortable.”</p><p>“What!” Morgana questioned, “you’re going to just leave me here?”</p><p>“What else am I supposed to do?” Ren asked the cat, “hold you in my bag.” Morgana smirked, “well…”</p><p><em> You have got to be kidding me, </em> Ren thought. “Fine, if I have no other choice.”</p><p>Morgana snickered, jumping off of the bed and into Ren’s bag.</p><p>The way to school was long, the damn cat wouldn’t stop talking. At least it was better than being left alone with his thoughts, but he wanted to throw his bag into the trash so badly.</p><p>“Did anyone hear any meows?” a student asked as they passed Ren. <em> I guess normal people only hear meows. </em> Ren needed to talk to Ryuji as soon as possible, but he settled on the time he chose yesterday, lunch time. Ren went into his homeroom, his relationship with Kawakami being rocky; with him disappearing for an hour yesterday.</p><p>“Remember everyone, tomorrow is the volleyball rally,” Kawakami began to announce the daily announcements. Ren tried to pay attention, but after some ruffling from behind, he turned around to find Morgana half out of his bag.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Ren yelled in a hushed tone, “get back in there!”</p><p>“I can’t breathe though!” Morgana gasped for air now that he was out of the bag. Ren grabbed the cat and put him into his desk, “are you happy?”</p><p>“Certainly,” Morgana answered.</p><p>Once the school bell rang, he left the classroom; searching through the hall for the familiar blonde delinquent. He found Ryuji near the staircase, leaning against the wall. Ryuji noticed Ren, “c’mon, follow me,” Ryuji commanded, walking up the stairs. </p><p> </p><p>Ren followed him until they got to the roof. The roof itself was off-limits, a giant sign on the door said it. Ryuji creaked the door open, looking around the confines of the roof before fully entering, Ren followed after him.</p><p>The roof was pretty nice, it didn’t suck the air out of him like the rest of the campus did. The roof had no bars or railings, definitely a safety issue. Ren ignored that, looking over to the mini-garden. He had always been interested in gardening, he just never had any time back at his old school. They had a gardening club, but had no one in it.</p><p>“Is there a gardening club? I’m thinking about joining,” Ren explained. </p><p>Ryuji shrugged, “beats me.”</p><p>“What garden?” Morgana questioned.</p><p>“Did you hear that?” Ryuji asked Ren, “I could’ve sworn it sounded like… that dumb cat.”</p><p>“What’d you say!?” Morgana yelled in a fit of rage, jumping out of the bag.</p><p>Ryuji screamed, jumping at the sight of the talking cat. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag,” Ren joked, “he showed up at my house. He said he wanted to talk.”</p><p>“I’m here to explain everything like I promised,” Morgana explained. Ryuji sighed, “fine, start explaining then.”</p><p> </p><p>Ann sat at her usual spot, on the bench near the vending machine. Next to her was Shiho, her best friend. She wears her Shujin uniform, with black hair tied up in a ponytail. She also had a couple of bruises on her face. The two best friends sat in silence, just staring down at the ground.</p><p>“Are you sure you're okay?” Ann asked.</p><p>Shiho sighed, “yeah I am.”</p><p>Ann frowned as the bringer of bad news approached her. He had dark-blue hair, wearing the normal Shujin uniform, sporting his own set of bruises. She didn’t really hate the guy, he was nice enough. But what she did hate about him was the news he brought.</p><p>“Hey Mishima,” Ann greeted. Yuuki didn’t look up at her, “hey.”</p><p>Shiho looked up at him, “hey.”</p><p>Yuuki hesitated, “K-Kamoshida wants you.”</p><p>“W-what does he want?” Shiho questioned.</p><p>“He didn’t tell me,” Yuuki responded.</p><p>Ann noticed the somber tone, “i’m sure it’s nothing bad,” she tried to cheer up her friend.</p><p>“Y-yeah,” Shiho seemed to cheer up a bit.</p><p>“I’ll save you a Nastea,” Ann smiled. After Shiho left with Yuuki, Ann sighed, <em> why can’t things go back to how it was. Why won’t Kamoshida leave us alone? </em> She sat there for the remainder of the period until class began.</p><p>Yuuki led Shiho to Kamoshida’s office. Once he arrived at the front of the office, he turned to Shiho. “I-I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Huh?” Shiho questioned, “I thought he didn’t tell you.”</p><p>“You know what’s going to happen,” Yuuki sighed. Shiho looked down, “yeah.”</p><p>She walked into Kamoshida’s office, “come right in,” Kamoshida invited. Yuuki walked over to the computer lab, his safe space. <em> What am I doing? </em> he thought as he booted up the computer.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m confused,” Ryuji responded. Morgana huffed while Ren face-palmed.</p><p>“The shadow is their true self, what do you not get about it?” Morgana explained, “that Kamoshida wasn’t the real Kamoshida, it was the shadow form. That’s why he doesn’t remember anything, capeesh?”</p><p>“I still don’t get it,” Ryuji replied. Morgana wanted to claw Ryuji’s throat open, but he needed to stay calm. Ren was at least reasonably smart.</p><p>“I have a question,” Ren announced, raising his hand, “if we kill Kamoshida in the metaverse, does he die in the real world?”</p><p>“I-” Morgana thought about it, “I don’t know.”</p><p>A light bulb went off in Ryuji’s brain, “Ren, you said you recognized one of the students in the metaplace, right?”</p><p>“Yeah his face wasn’t hard to forget,” Ren explained, “my poor animal crackers…”</p><p>“That means we can go back in and memorize their faces. We can get them to rat in the real world!”</p><p>“That is actually not a bad plan,” Morgana told the blonde, “let’s go in.”</p><p>Ryuji cheered, “I can take us there this time,” he took out his phone, “the metathing app showed up on my phone too. Real freaky stuff but if it gets us in, it gets us in.”</p><p>“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Ren yelled, “let’s do this afterschool, I can’t risk myself getting into trouble again.”</p><p>“Why?” Morgana asked. “Are you afraid of getting put on timeout?” he joked.</p><p>“I heard the rumors about you,” Ryuji said, “course I don’t care but I can kinda get why he wouldn’t want to get in trouble.”</p><p>“Thank you Ryuji,” Ren thanked, “maybe I’ll tell you about it later but we have to eat. Class begins in 5 minutes.” </p><p>“Oh shit!” Ryuji exclaimed.</p><p> </p><p>The bell rang signifying the school days’ end. “You are dismissed,” Mr. Hiruta announced, bowing dramatically. Ren practically raced out of the classroom, meeting Ryuji near the stairs again.</p><p>“Let’s go!” Ryuji shouted as they began their way up to the roof. “What are you two doing?” they turned around to find Ann standing there.</p><p>“Nothing,” Ryuji lied, rubbing the back of his head, “I’m just hangin’ with Renren.”</p><p>Ren turned to the blonde, “Renren?” <em> Of all the nicknames he could’ve come up with… </em> Ren thought to himself.</p><p>Ann stared at Ren, “of all the friends you could’ve made.”</p><p>“Oh screw off!” Ryuji yelled, “we got shit to do.” Ryuji grabbed Ren and started dragging him up.</p><p>“Who was that?” Morgana asked after they were in the clear.</p><p>“You two know each other?” Ren asked Ryuji.</p><p>“Yeah,” Ryuji responded, “we went to the same middle school.”</p><p>“She was beautiful,” Morgana said, starstruck.</p><p>After arriving on the roof; Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana arrived at the entrance of the castle. Ryuji rushed for the entrance but Morgana quickly stopped him. “If we go in from the entrance, we’ll surely be captured!” Morgana warned. “Then how do we get in?” Ryuji questioned. Morgana began to look around, “I-I don’t know.”</p><p>A blue butterfly flew up to Ren. He recognized the butterfly, from when he awakened to Arsène.</p><p>“Use your power,” it said.</p><p>“My power?” Ren questioned, then his head began to hurt. His vision was now clouded by a blue light, but he couldn’t see anything.</p><p>“Concentrate,” the butterfly said.</p><p><em> Concentrate… </em> Ren thought. He tried to concentrate, on a way into the palace. As he began to concentrate, his vision began to clear. His eyes focused on a glowing blue vent above a few crates. </p><p>Ren’s eyes snapped back to normal, “I know how to get in.” </p><p>“You do?” Morgana and Ryuji questioned in unison. Ren pointed to the vent.</p><p>“How are we going to fit in there?” Ryuji asked, “or get in there?”</p><p>Ren climbed up the some-what sturdy boxes and squeezed himself into the vent. He climbed through the vent without looking back because of the lack of space. At the end of the vent was a small room void of guards. Ryuji and Morgana were right behind him, coming out after him.</p><p>Ren slowly opened the door, peeking his head out to spot any guards. There was a guard at the end of the hallway, but he didn't seem to notice him.</p><p>“There's a guard at the end of the hallway,” Ren explained. Ren and Morgana readied themselves for battle before Ryuji stopped them.</p><p>“I have something for you,” Ryuji said, “consider it an early birthday present,” he took out a small handgun.</p><p>Ren took it from the blonde, under closer inspection, the pistol was fake. “This is fake,” Ren explained, handing it back to Ryuji.</p><p>“Really?” Ryuji questioned, “looked real to me when I bought it.”</p><p>Ren rolled his eyes, “guess you can try to return it.”</p><p>“Wait!” Morgana yelled, “that could be useful.”</p><p>“Useful?” Ren asked, “how does a fake gun help us? A water gun would be better than this.”</p><p>“Let me explain: in the cognitive world, if it looks real enough, the viewer will believe it to be real. Hence, a fake gun will be perceived as real.” Morgana explained.</p><p>Ren grabbed the gun back from Ryuji, “you should’ve started with that. Now let’s get going.”</p><p>After a couple of battles, the group made their way deeper into the castle, going into the dungeon.</p><p>“Weren’t they here,” Morgana pointed towards an empty cell.</p><p>“I could’ve sworn,” Ryuji sighed, “maybe Kamoshida took ‘em away.”</p><p>“Good point,” Ren noted, “we should go deeper then.”</p><p> </p><p>Deeper into the dungeons, the group finally finds some form of life, it was a room. Inside the room was a volleyball player tied to the wall. On the opposite end of the room was a cannon that would shoot a cannon ball every few seconds.</p><p>Morgana shielded his eyes, “jeez, that looks painful.”</p><p>“You can say that again,” Ryuji added. They continued onto the next room where another volleyball player ran endlessly on a treadmill. At the end of the treadmill was a saw blade spinning at intense speeds.</p><p>“That’s the guy that threw away my food,” Ren pointed out. If this was what Kamoshida saw in his twisted brain… what happens in reality?</p><p>Next to the room was a cell with the rest of the volleyball players waiting for the inevitable.</p><p>“I memorized ‘em all,” Ryuji announced, “we’re getting him now! This is seriously messed up!”</p><p>“I agree,” Morgana agreed with the blonde, “we should get out of here before they notice.”</p><p>Ren and Ryuji nodded as they followed the cat out of the dungeons and up into the entrance of the castle. “Let’s just book it!” Ryuji yelled as he ran towards the doors.</p><p>“Wait!” Morgana exclaimed, running after him with Ren close behind.</p><p>“Halt!” a voice cried out. Everyone turned around to find Kamoshida standing up at the top of the stairs sitting in the throne chair, guards surrounded them.</p><p>“Shit!” Ryuji looked around for a possible escape.</p><p>“I guess we have to fight our way out of here,” Ren yelled, “Morgana you ready?”</p><p>“Yeah!” the cat purred. Ren quickly ripped off his mask and summoned Arsène, making quick work of the surrounding shadows. A knight on a horse in red armor approached the group.</p><p>“For king Kamoshida!” he yelled as he charged into Ren, causing him to fly backwards into the wall.</p><p>“Ren!” Morgana screamed as he was also dispatched by the knight.</p><p>“We lost?” Ryuji dropped to his knees at the prospect, hitting the floor repeatedly.</p><p>“So soon to quit?” Kamoshida taunted, “so soon to resort to violence?” he laughed, “you're just as pathetic as you were when I coached the track team.”</p><p>“That wasn’t coaching!” Ryuji argued, “that was abuse!”</p><p>Kamoshida shrugged, “maybe if you stayed quiet I wouldn’t have broken your leg.”</p><p>“Damn it!” Ryuji pounded the ground. <em> Am I really going to lose again? Not only can I not run before but the track teams’ gone cause of this guy! </em></p><p>Ren noticed Ryuji struggling, “are you just going to let this guy walk all over you? Stand up for yourself!”</p><p>“You're right,” Ryuji thanked, “everything that was ever important to me was taken by this son of a bitch!”</p><p>Kamoshida laughed, the knight had both Ren and Morgana under his feet. “Watch as these hopeless scum die for nothing,” he looked at Ryuji, “because they sided with trash like you.”</p><p>Ryuji pushed himself off the ground, “no that’s what you are!”</p><p>“What did you say to me?” Kamoshida questioned. </p><p>“All you think about is using people!” Ryuji yelled, “you're the real scumbag Kamoshida!” Ryuji pointed towards Kamoshida, “stop looking down at me with that stupid smile on your face!”</p><p>“You made me wait quite a while.”</p><p>Ryuji grabbed his head because of a sharp pain.</p><p>“You seek power, correct? Let us form a pact.”</p><p>Ryuji began to scream as the pain became unbearable.</p><p>“Your name has already been disgraced, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc? I am thou, thou am I… The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!”</p><p>A mask materialized onto Ryuji’s face. He screamed after pulling it off, blood falling from his face. A pirate standing on top of a boat appeared behind him. </p><p>“He has it too?” Kamoshida questioned. His red knight had been blown away by the awakening, freeing Ren and Morgana.</p><p>“This is sweet!” Ryuji laughed, “I think it’s time we got some payback.”</p><p>Ren and Morgana summoned Arsène and Zorro, steeling themselves for battle.</p><p>The knight in red armor ran between Ryuji and Kamoshida, Kamoshida running away; deeper into his castle. Behind the knight, a fairy and a blue demon in a jug flew above it.</p><p>Ryuji grabbed the pipe that had appeared in his hand and ran to the knight, swinging it at him. The knight anticipated the attack, dodging it. He then counter attacked with his lance. Ren was able to use sukunda on the knight, causing it to slow down. Ryuji was now able to dodge the attack. Unfortunately, Ren hadn’t been paying attention and was electrocuted by a zio from the fairy. </p><p>Morgana helped Ren up after making quick work of the blue demon. Ren took out his new gun and shot the fairy, causing it to be knocked down. Now all that was left was the knight. Ryuji was able to deal with it though with a zio, causing it to also be knocked down. After the shadows were all knocked down, they staged an all-out attack; the group running up to the knocked out enemies and beating the crap out of them. Ren ended the attack with a flashy backflip before readjusting his gloves.</p><p>Morgana stared at him, “did you really need to do that?”</p><p>“Yes, yes I did,” Ren responded.</p><p>“Let’s get out of here!” Ryuji yelled, before he fell down.</p><p>“He seems out of energy,” Morgana pointed out, “carry him.”</p><p>“Got it,” Ren said, bringing Ryuji’s arm around his and helping him out. After escaping the palace, they teleported back onto the rooftop of Shujin. Ryuji was slouching in a chair, clearly tired after the excursion in the metaverse. “I’m so hungry,” Ryuji grumbled, holding his stomach.</p><p>“I guess so,” Ren looked at his phone, they had been in the metaverse for around an hour. “Do you have any favorites?”</p><p>Ryuji jumped out of the chair, now full of energy, “I got the perfect place!”</p><p>Morgana snickered, “where was that energy earlier?”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Ryuji laughed, “we gotta take the train though so let’s hurry.”</p><p> </p><p>After an overwhelmingly long meeting with the rest of the student council, Makoto rushed over to the principal’s office. Principal Kobayakawa had called for her earlier but she declined since she had already scheduled the student council meeting. </p><p>“You're late,” Kobayakawa told the president. Makoto sat down across from the principal, “I’m sorry but the student council meeting went on for longer then expected. Ikesugi had complained about ‘being followed’. Fujimori didn’t account for the volleyball team taking up 80% of the budget.”</p><p>“Sounds like you had a very rough day,” Kobayakawa took out a folder, handing it to her, “you remember the transfer student, Ren Amamiya.”</p><p>Makoto nodded, “yes I do. What about him?”</p><p>“He was sent to the principal’s office for punching a student,” Kobayakawa explained. Makoto was surprised by the news, he didn’t seem like the type when she first met him. He looked a lot less like a criminal then she imagined. But he is still a criminal, she shouldn’t have been so surprised.</p><p>“Why do I have to do with this?” Makoto asked.</p><p>“Well…” Kobayakawa began, “I have some concerns that he might not do well academically, so I’ve decided that you will be tutoring him.”</p><p>Makoto was staggered, “w-why me? I’m certain there are others more suited for this sort of job.”</p><p>“Don’t joke around Niijima,” Kobayakawa sighed, “you are the top student in your grade. You're the most suited for this.”</p><p>“You're absolutely right,” Makoto responded in defeat.</p><p>“You're in charge of him,” he warned, “if he fails, the school’s reputation goes down the drain; including yours. You're dismissed.”</p><p>Makoto sighed as she left the office. She began to sift through the folder, she’d need to contact Ren tomorrow morning; that is if he even shows up. He needed to, her life depended on it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So this chapter took a bit longer to write then expected. It was supposed to come out on Friday but I decided to extend the deadline to Monday so I could smooth it out a bit. I hope it was worth the wait and of course like always, the release schedule has been terminated.</p><p>If you were wondering why Mishima was called Yuuki, it's cause that's his first name. Why did they make me learn his name as Mishima. It's just like Akechi, I thought Goro was his last name for the longest time lol. I wanted to use most characters first names unless they hold a higher status like the teachers and some of the adults.</p><p>If you have any feedback or criticism, I'd happily take it. No one is perfect, especially me, so some help would be appreciated. If you don't have any constructive criticism, I'm happy to talk Persona (as long as it's 4-5 to avoid spoilers for 1-3), or anything else. Life's been pretty shit but writing has made it so much better. Anyway, thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading Persona 5: Project Royal. The plan is that I release a new chapter every Monday. Any feedback would also be accepted, no one is perfect and my writing is no exception.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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